On Humbleness

So, you have written a script, you have a camcorder, and you’re ready to go. You assemble a production team and a cadre of actors. Maybe you’ve done this on your own, or maybe you found one key person with contacts that really helped you to pull this together. Either way, remember that your team will carry you across the finish line, not the other way around.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to produce a short film. This was my first time at the wheel, and, with the birth of my two kids, to date it has been my only project. In short, I dreamt the content of the story, wrote it over a weekend, got an AD on board, and she really ran with it.

The problem is, I didn’t trust her. Not for anything that she had done or indicated that she would do. On the contrary, she did a lot to get the project going and taught me a lot along the way. My problem was that I craved control of my baby, and this prevented me from trusting the people who managed the shoot for me.

True, my crew was composed of a bunch of humans who were doing everything they could go grow their careers in a small market. I think that’s reasonable. Hell, if they were serious about their work, they should have been motivated to do everything they could to learn and prove their value. But I saw it differently. I saw attempts to do more on the set as empire building. I undercut the people that I depended on.

This happens on a lot of shoots. There are a lot of sensitive people with their own needs and reasons for being on your set. I guess the message I’m trying to convey here is to pay attention to the needs of the individual who is working with you. If there is a conflict, or even the perception of a conflict, communicate. Talk it through, and don’t dance around it. You may find that you enhance your personal and working relationships by doing this. In the least, you will have a happier set.

The good news is that I made a bunch of good friends on that project. Bad news is that I burned my share of bridges. Good news is that I learned a lot about the process of film-making, likely more than I would have in film school. Bad news – I prevented others from doing the same. Live and learn.

Final thoughts: Film-making is a beautiful, personally meaningful, and highly energizing and dynamic means of self-expression, for everyone involved. Invite people to participate and contribute what they bring to the show. And leave your ego at the door.

Testing...

Okay, I've shared my insightful, not quite so insightful, and freakishly bizarre ideas about producing movies with my friends for a number of years, and now I've decided to take my show on the road. 

I've never posted anything to the 'blogosphere, except in response to other 'bloggers postings, so this is a new thing for me. It may look like crap for a while as electronic coolness. Links may not work, photos may not show up, but we'll get there.

What I'm About

I like movies. I like watching them, discussing them, and on a rare occassion, shooting them. I didn't go to film school. I bought a camera and have brought it out enough times to figure out some stuff that doesn't work so well, but I've also figured out some stuff that works really well.

This blog isn't about the technical aspects of digital cinema. There are a lot of other people out there a lot smarter than me that are already opening their brains for the world to see. My thing is more about how to get cool stuff with what you have. How to weave an emotional tale and not be so wrapped up in the technology and geekdom of making the movie that you end up painting by numbers and really missing out on creating something that touches the soul.

I may post stuff here that has nothing to do with film, but that inspires me to create and makes me think about how to breathe life into something you watch on a screen.